Thursday

Mar 1, 2018 at 11:56 AMMar 1, 2018 at 10:07 PM

Last year, Boone County voters rejected — for the third time — a 0.5 percentage-point increase in the county sales tax.

The roof of the Boone County Courthouse still leaks, Sheriff Dave Ernest still doesn’t have the number of deputies he needs, and the list of equipment deputies should have to do their jobs continues to grow.

The situation gets worse the longer there’s not enough money to pay for public safety needs. We think voters should approve the sales tax increase when they go to the polls March 20.

Boone County is relatively safe, a fact that might leave residents with a false sense of security. But Boone County is next door to Winnebago County, which routinely has one of the highest crime rates in the state of Illinois.

It’s not a stretch to think Winnebago County crime could spill over into Boone if there aren’t enough deputies to deter the bad guys from crossing the county line.

The courthouse continues to deteriorate. When it rains, and there’s been plenty of rain lately, deputies move buckets around to catch water that falls through the leaky roof. That’s a waste of time for anyone, let alone law enforcement professionals who have much more important things to do.

The increase in sales tax to 8.25 percent would put Boone County at the same rate charged in neighboring communities, so the increase would not create a competitive disadvantage. Plus, people who exit Interstate 90 to get gas or a bite to eat would be contributing to the public safety tax. The tax is not imposed on groceries, medicine or titled property like cars and farm equipment.

The reasons Boone County residents have rejected the tax in the past vary. Some will never vote for a tax increase of any kind. Others think government has enough money, and then there are people who don’t trust that the money will be used for its intended purpose.

It’s the last group that could make a difference between approval or rejection of the effort this year, and they have a legitimate complaint.

In 2015, members of the County Board voted 9-3 to use revenue from the public safety sales tax to balance the 2016 budget.

Also that year, board members voted to remove a “whereas” clause that said the county intended to end the 0.5 percent public safety sales tax in 2018. Those moves left many residents wondering whether board members could be trusted.

Since that 2015 vote there’s a new board chairman, Karl Johnson, and a new sheriff, Ernst. And there’s still that leaky roof.

We think it’s time to fix the roof, hire deputies and get them the tools they need. That can be done if residents vote yes to the sales-tax increase March 20. We encourage them to do so.

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